After Becoming the Abused Heroine in a Campus Story - Chapter 63: It's Her

Chapter 63: It’s Her

Zhou Yining finished watching the movie and went to the bathroom. Jiang Xianzhi and a few others waited for her outside.

Si Yaqing gave Shi Yuanyuan a look. Shi Yuanyuan immediately moved closer to Jiang Xianzhi. She hesitated for a moment before speaking haltingly, “Um, Zhizhi, are you and Zhou Yining together?”

Jiang Xianzhi was stunned by her words. “What do you mean together?”

“I mean, are you two dating?” Shi Yuanyuan continued to ask.

Jiang Xianzhi quickly shook her head. She even laughed. “How’s that possible? We’re just good friends.”

“Really? I don’t think you two look like just friends,” Shi Yuanyuan muttered softly.

“You’re really overthinking it.” Jiang Xianzhi shook her head with a smile. She didn’t take it seriously.

Soon, Zhou Yining came out. “Let’s go. We should head back.”

“Hmm.” Jiang Xianzhi naturally went over and held Zhou Yining’s hand. Shi Yuanyuan and Si Yaqing exchanged glances.

After the four got into the car, Jiang Xianzhi asked the driver to drop Shi Yuanyuan and the others off at their homes first. Then she and Zhou Yining rode home.

By the time they got home, it was almost time for dinner. Jiang Yueyi and Liang Jing were back too. They were in the living room.

“You’re back? Go wash your hands. Dinner’s ready,” Liang Jing said with a smile.

Zhou Yining and Jiang Xianzhi obediently complied. After dinner, Jiang Xianzhi wanted to rest, but Zhou Yining was eager to do homework. Jiang Xianzhi had no choice but to go with Zhou Yining to the study.

“Do you really have to do homework?” Jiang Xianzhi leaned on Zhou Yining’s shoulder and asked.

“Hmm, there’s a lot to do later. I need to finish the homework first. If you don’t want to do yours, you can play or go rest in your room,” Zhou Yining said softly.

“No way. I’ll stay with you then.” Jiang Xianzhi reluctantly took out her own homework.

Around 9 p.m., Jiang Yueyi knocked on the door.

“Sister, what’s up?” Jiang Xianzhi looked up and asked.

Jiang Yueyi nodded at her. “Hmm, I had someone check the IP addresses of the posts. They came from 11 different internet cafes in Nanchuan City. I had people pull the surveillance footage from those cafes based on the posting times. You’ll need to check who it is yourselves.”

Zhou Yining quickly said, “Hmm, I’ll compare them one by one based on the post times.”

“Okay, the videos are copied onto this USB drive. You two can check them yourselves.”

“Thanks.” Zhou Yining hurriedly took the USB drive. Jiang Xianzhi pulled out her laptop.

Zhou Yining plugged in the USB drive. She saw a new folder inside. Opening the folder, she found 11 video files. Each title noted the corresponding internet cafe name and the related forum post.

Zhou Yining took out an A4 sheet of paper. She first wrote down the names of the 11 internet cafes. Then she listed which school’s forum each cafe’s post was tied to. After that, she started opening the videos one by one to search.

The posts were made over three days. Accordingly, the 11 videos were from those three days. She could roughly determine the suspect’s appearance time based on the posting times.

Zhou Yining clicked on a video and carefully reviewed it. Although fewer people went to internet cafes now, it was still a huge task. She sifted through them. By nearly midnight, she finally captured the video content she wanted.

She saw that on the first day, the same person appeared in three internet cafes. This person wasn’t very tall, even shorter than Zhou Yining. She wore a black mask covering her face, long pants, long sleeves, and a black baseball cap. Since it was summer, her heavy clothing stood out.

It was easy to tell this person was female. She had long hair, and her height and figure seemed more like a girl’s.

Zhou Yining recalled the previous video. She pulled up the earlier footage and compared the three suspects from last time with this one. She found that this girl perfectly matched one of the previous suspects.

The surveillance footage was a bit blurry. Zhou Yining tried to find clearer images of the girl. She actually found some in the later two videos. The girl looked up at the camera for a moment before quickly looking away.

Zhou Yining saw the upper half of the girl’s face clearly this time. She opened her mouth slightly in disbelief.

Jiang Xianzhi, who was watching the screen beside her, whispered, “Tch, she looks so familiar. Like I’ve seen her somewhere. Zhou Zhou, have you seen her before?”

As she spoke, Jiang Xianzhi turned to look at Zhou Yining. She saw Zhou Yining was clearly stunned. Jiang Xianzhi nudged her. “What’s wrong?”

Zhou Yining took a few deep breaths to calm herself. She recognized the person in the footage. It was none other than Tian Xue, who often hung out with her at school.

Zhou Yining felt she got along well with Tian Xue these days. They ate together, and she even helped Tian Xue with math problems. Why would Tian Xue repeatedly try to frame her?

Taking a step back, before Zhou Yining arrived, Tian Xue had already harmed the original self once. Weren’t they best friends?

The original self’s family was already unfortunate enough. On top of that, she faced school bullying and was ostracized by classmates. Yet Tian Xue still posted her love letter on the school’s confession wall. Was that something a person could do?

“What’s wrong?” Jiang Xianzhi asked again, a bit worried.

Zhou Yining shook her head. “It’s Tian Xue.”

“What? How’s that possible? Isn’t she your friend?” Jiang Xianzhi looked shocked.

“I knew it just from her eyes. It’s definitely her. It’s past midnight. You should go sleep. I’ll finish capturing the rest of the videos.” After a brief shock, Zhou Yining suppressed her anger and started watching the second day’s videos.

Jiang Xianzhi shook her head. “I’m not sleeping. I’ll stay with you. Zhou Zhou, are you okay?”

Jiang Xianzhi worried Zhou Yining might take it too hard, since Tian Xue was her friend.

Zhou Yining felt uncomfortable. She found her time with Tian Xue laughable. She was even angrier that, during the original self’s toughest times, her best friend not only didn’t understand her but stabbed her in the back.

“I’m fine. I want to finish capturing the videos quickly and report it to the police tomorrow morning.” Zhou Yining’s voice remained calm.

“Okay, I’ll go with you tomorrow morning.” Jiang Xianzhi quietly stayed by Zhou Yining’s side.

Zhou Yining finished capturing all the videos by nearly 3 a.m. She let out a small sigh of relief and rubbed her sore eyes.

Jiang Xianzhi had fallen asleep on the table. Zhou Yining gently patted her. “Zhizhi, let’s go. Time to sleep in the room.”

“Hmm, you’re done?”

“Hmm, I’ve got everything. I put all the evidence on the USB drive,” Zhou Yining said.

“Sorry, I said I’d stay with you, but I fell asleep first,” Jiang Xianzhi said apologetically.

Zhou Yining said softly, “It’s fine. Let’s go rest.”

“Hmm.”

The two went back to their room and changed into pajamas. Zhou Yining lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought. Now, she was the one dealing with this. But what if it was the original self? How devastated would she have been?

In those dark days, she finally had someone by her side. She could share her pain and get companionship and encouragement. But it was all fake. When she found out the person she trusted and relied on most was the one hurting her, what would the original self do?

Zhou Yining felt the original self might truly have broken down. Now, she just wanted to ask Tian Xue why she did it. Did she even have a heart?

Sensing Zhou Yining’s uneven breathing, Jiang Xianzhi moved closer. She buried herself in Zhou Yining’s arms and gently patted her. “Zhou Zhou, rest first. It’s not worth getting upset over someone like that. Don’t be afraid. I’m here. I’ll go with you to the police tomorrow.”

Zhou Yining hugged the person in her arms tightly. “Hmm.”

She drifted off, not knowing when she fell asleep. When she woke up, it was already 8 a.m. Jiang Xianzhi was up. The sound of water came from the bathroom. Jiang Xianzhi was probably showering.

Zhou Yining sat up too. While she changed clothes, Jiang Xianzhi came out of the bathroom. “Zhou Zhou, let’s eat breakfast and go.”

“Hmm, I’ll wash up first.” Zhou Yining stretched and rubbed her temples. Staring at the computer all night left her a bit tired.

She washed up and felt better.

The two went downstairs, ate a quick breakfast, and left. Zhou Yining thought Tian Xue was still a student, so they went straight to the police station near the school to file a report.

After they entered, a male police officer received them.

Seeing they were students, he asked, “What’s the matter? Coming to report something so early?”

“Someone violated my privacy. They posted my love letter online. The views have already exceeded ten thousand,” Zhou Yining said.

“Got any evidence?” The male officer was visibly impatient. Cases involving the internet were usually troublesome. They often delayed such cases, letting them fizzle out.

“Yes, the evidence is all on the USB drive. There are screenshots of the posts made online. I’ve checked the IP addresses and pulled surveillance from 11 internet cafes. I found the person. She’s my classmate, named Tian Xue,” Zhou Yining explained.

The male officer frowned at the dense contents of the USB drive. He took out a form. “Alright, fill this out first. Then go back and wait for a notice. Investigating and collecting evidence takes time. Fill it out and go wait.”

Zhou Yining frowned. Her evidence was already thorough. She didn’t know what else they needed to wait for.

“Officer, my evidence chain is already complete. What else do we need to wait for?” Zhou Yining asked.

“I told you to wait, so go wait. You say this is evidence, and I’m supposed to just believe you? Don’t we need to investigate and collect evidence? Then pull surveillance? That all takes time. It’s not whatever you want it to be. Everyone has to wait and follow the process, got it?” the male officer said impatiently. He took a sip of tea and spat the tea leaves back into the cup.

The male officer tapped the form on the desk. “Fill this out, quick. I’ve got a ton of work. Don’t waste my time.”